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What We’re Reading

NPR: Food technologists are in fierce competition to make the first plausible cheese for vegans. — Julia Moskin

KCRW: Yet another star chef who has found inspiration in music: Roy Choi (above) of Kogi, the pioneering Korean taco truck in Los Angeles, talks about the ways in which old-school hip-hop altered his creative consciousness. — Jeff Gordinier

Nation’s Restaurant News: Now that Starbucks is expanding overseas, mushrooming rapidly in China, comes the news that the coffeehouse chain has named Robert Gates — a former secretary of defense — to its board of directors. Could Starbucks be contemplating a military strategy for China in its push for worldwide domination? — Glenn Collins

The New York Times Magazine: Mark Bittman on soft-shell crabs. The combination of tenderness and crunch makes them one of the great delights of eating. (If you’re squeamish about this, I suggest you get over it, or swear off animal products altogether.) — Susan Edgerley

The Session Beer Project: Lew Bryson makes the argument, with the aid of a blogger, that traditional, lower-strength session beers and the craft beer industry can happily coexist. — Eric Asimov

Grub Street: A drinker’s dilemma: which to celebrate on Saturday — Derby Day, Cinco de Mayo, or both? New York doesn’t appear to have an equestrian tequila bar, but there are plenty of other options. …

Zagat: … And on a quieter note, it’s not too early to make reservations for Mother’s Day, a week from Sunday. — Patrick Farrell

The Washington Post: Responding to a spate of food-borne illnesses, the Obama administration went all out to speed passage of safety legislation. But more than a year after the president signed the bill into law, the White House is sitting on it. — Patrick Farrell

Los Angeles Magazine: The May issue includes a rich (and somewhat distressing) piece by Lesley Bargar Suter about the burger entrepreneur Adam Fleischman and his supersonically expanding Umami empire. You can’t access the article here, alas, but you do get some of the story behind the story, which apparently wound up taking a full year to put together. — Jeff Gordinier

Slate: Onions make some people cry, but they make Tom Scocca scream. Convinced that caramelizing them takes way, way longer than many recipes claim, he virulently takes on Melissa Clark, Sam Sifton and recipe writers in general. — Patrick Farrell

Wine Review Online: A profile of Sashi Moorman, a ubiquitous figure in the wine-making world of the Santa Rita Hills in Santa Barbara County. “Santa Rita Hills is a gifted region,” he says. “The gift is tremendous ripeness you can achieve with low potential alcohol. But very few people choose to take advantage of these gifts.” — Eric Asimov

Restaurant Girl: Michael Psilakis, who has spawned a dizzying array of Greek restaurants, talks about growing up on Long Island, and adds some kind words for his peers: Molyvos, Loi and the Astoria fish place Kyclades. — Patrick Farrell

Chicago Reader: So what would you cook if you had an ounce or so of colatura, the funky liquid that seeps out of fermenting anchovies? — Jeff Gordinier